COCA-COLA North Amercia debuts new "COKE SIDE OF LIFE" advertising for the holidays

“At The Table” And “Around The Table” Join Popular “Artic Beach Party” As Coca-Cola Ushers In The Holidays

ATLANTA. - Coca-Cola is helping to kick off the holiday festivities this year with new advertising that highlights the special times that family and friends share with loved ones and Coca-Cola around tables throughout the world.

“Coca-Cola has been a part of celebrations with family and friends for more than 120 years, and these new ads honor those special moments with loved ones that people all around the world cherish,” said Hendrik Steckhan, president and general manager, Sparkling Beverages, Coca-Cola North America.

A new television ad, called “At The Table,” will make its global debut, airing during select family programming such as ESPN and ABC’s college football broadcasts during Thanksgiving weekend, and on ABC’s broadcast of “The Polar Express” on November 30th.

Shot in Uruguay by La Negra (Buenos Aires, Argentina), the ad is the latest addition to the critically acclaimed “Coke Side of Life” campaign created by Wieden and Kennedy. The visually rich and inspiring new spot opens with a family setting up a table and chairs in preparation for an outdoor meal. They are soon joined by other people, who bring their own tables, chairs, food and Coca-Cola as well. The growing table continues to wind through city streets and rural landscapes around the world as more and more people join in the meal and take seats at the ever-growing table, sharing their meals and their Coca-Cola too. The ad, which will be used by Coca-Cola divisions around the world, makes its global premiere in the U.S. this week.

The new ad builds on other recent efforts by Coca-Cola to highlight the importance of family meal time. Another new spot, titled “Around The Table,” is currently running in several local U.S. markets and features the family dinner table as the literal focal point of the spot. An array of different families seemingly come together around the same table to celebrate what the dinner table was originally designed for -- the family meal. The 30-second ad will begin airing nationally in January.

“Coca-Cola has always brought people together. Each of these ’Coke Side of Life’ ads is about friends and families connecting and sharing,” said Katie Bayne, chief marketing officer, Coca-Cola North America. “There is now considerable research that shows the tangible benefits of sharing meals together. We understand and believe in the value of coming together -- during the holidays and every day.”

Research by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University consistently finds that the more often children eat dinner with their families, the less likely they are to smoke, drink or use drugs. Their 2007 The Importance of Family Dinners IV report found that compared to teens who have five to seven family dinners a week, those who dine with their families fewer than three nights a week are: three-and-a-half times likelier to have abused prescription drugs; three times likelier to have tried marijuana; more than two-and-a-half times likelier to have tried cigarettes and one-and-a-half times likelier to have tried alcohol. More information about the 2007 The Importance of Family Dinners IV report can be found at www.CASAFamilyDay.org.

The popular “Arctic Beach Party” ad returns for 2007 as well. In the spot, the Coca-Cola polar bear family is awoken by the sounds of a party and while investigating the noise, the polar bear cub slips down a snowy hillside into a group of dancing penguins. As the penguins and bears eye one another, a small penguin appears and offers the cub a bottle of Coca-Cola, signaling the bears to join the holiday celebration. Over the years, the bears have come to represent the fun and togetherness that friends and family share, especially during the holiday season. In addition to the Coca-Cola polar bears reappearance for the holidays, the famous Coca-Cola Sundblom Santa will begin appearing in out-of-home advertising in cities around the U.S. this week.